Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said he was amazed by the behaviour of the Opposition in Parliament on Tuesday.
He also described their walk out of yesterday’s debate on Tobago’s self-governance as “delinquency and foolishness.”
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the entire Opposition bench, walked out of the House after the Rowley’s one-hour long speaking time was extended for another 60 minutes.
Rowley, speaking to media following the incident, said that he was “amazed” that any political party, much less one that was in Opposition, allowed their leader to behave in that manner.
He questioned why anyone would “put up with the delinquency and foolishness that is Kamla Persad-Bissessar”, adding that “After two days of this missing leader, she appears like a green mirage in the Parliament chamber to shout at the Speaker.”
“Then worst, rush to call a press conference to play the victim and make foolish accusations and engage in futile name-calling. How often will she do that?” he asked.
Rowley said that Persad-Bissessar “sacrifices her leaderless, uninformed and inexperienced neophytes to carry the debate in a most amateurish way.”
Leader of Government Business, Camille Robinson-Regis defended the PM’s speaking time and extension, saying that she ceded her time to allow Rowley to speak and to close off the debate.
“In my circumstance, I indicated that I ceded my right of reply, as mover, to the Prime Minister,” Robinson-Regis said.
She said “If there was anything wrong with that, you can be assured that the Speaker would have indicated same.”
Robinson-Regis said, “Let me make the point that this is a constitutional amendment, this is something that touches and concerns the people in Tobago in particular.
“It was important for Dr Rowley to be given the time to speak,” she said.
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